Refrigerator



Jan. 25, 1944. .1. N; ROTH REFRIGERATOR Original Filed Jan. 19, 1940 2Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 25,1944.

J. N. ROTH REFRiGERA'IOR Original Filed Jan. 19, 1940 2 Sheets-sheaf; 2

I 29 a9 7 I J ZZZZ/67 Patented Jan. 25, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEJoseph N. Roth,'Belding,. Micln', assignor, by mesne assignments, to-Gibson Refrigerator Company, Greenville, Micln, a corporation ofMichigan Original application January 19, 1940, Serial No.

314,704. Divided and this application February 24. 1941, Serial'No.380,343

g Claims. (01. 62-5) This invention relates to a refrigerator, and

more particularly to an improved control arrangement for a domesticrefrigerator.

The present application is a divisional/of my application, Serial No.314,704, filed January 19,

1940, which has now become Patent No. 2,305,640.

One feature of this invention is that it provides an improved and moreconvenient location of the manual control associated with controlapparatus for varying the amount of refrigeration in a domesticrefrigerator; another feature of this invention is that the controlapparatus is located in convenient and desirable relationship with therefrigerant circulating apparatus of the refrigerator; yet anotherfeature of this invention is that the control mechanism and control knobare so associated that operative connection between them maybeconveniently and simply made; other features and advantages of thisinvention will be apparent in the following specifi cation and thedrawings, in which:

Figure l is a back elevational view of a domestic refrigerator embodyingmy invention, with part of the food compartment broken away to show thecontrol; 'Figure 2 is a partial vertical sectional view transverse toFigure 1; and Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view along the line 3-3of Figure 1.

While my improved control arrangement is adapted for use with any type.of refrigerant circulating apparatus, it is here illustrated anddescribed in a domestic refrigerator of the continuous absorption type.The system is based on the type of refrigerating apparatus shown inSchurtz Patent No. 1,414,527, which issued May 2, 1922. The basic systemthere shown has been considerably modified and improved by said Schurtzand myself to adapt it particularly for domestic refrigerators, and anumber of the fea-;

tures and improvements of the refrigerant circulating apparatus and itsoperation and arrangement are the subject of copending applications bythe said Schurtz and myself, either jointly or solely. The presentapplication is directed entirely to the location and arrangement 'of themechanism for manual control elements for efiecting variation inthe-rate of refrigeration;

. and the rest of the system will, therefore, be only described briefly.

In the particular embodiment of my invention disclosed herewith theflame from a burner l5 heats a combination of liquid refrigerant andabsorbent.(as ammonia and water) in a still l6, preferably encased withheat insulating material. The refrigerant vapor boiled oil by thisapplication of heat passes up through an analyzer tower l8 and anair-cooled rectifier I9 to condenser coils 20 where it is liquefied.Ammonia liquefied in this condenser is forced up, by the vapor pressurebehind it, through the pipe 2| to the receiver 22. A conventional floatactuated expansion or pressure reduction valve admits the refrigerantfrom this receiver to an evaporator located in the food compartment 23in the upper part of the cabinet 24, where the expansion of therefrigerant Vaporabsorbs heat in the food compartment and keeps it cold.

Therefrigerant vapor, now at low pressure,

to .the still, and to deliver weak liquor periodi-.

' cally to the absorber, means is provided for circulating refrigerantliquid periodically between the still and the absorber. Inasmuch as theabsorber usually operates at a pressure between ten.

and fifteen pounds and the still at a pressure of ten to twenty timesthis pressure, no difiiculty is occasioned in the movement of the weakliquor from the still to the absorber, this taking place through thepipe 30 and being controlled by a float actuated valve in the absorber.Thus whenever the level of the liquid in the absorber drops, weak liquormoves up from the still. Return of rich liquor from thelow pressureportion of the system to the high pressure portion of the system,however, is more diificult; and is. accomplished in the generalmanner'taught in the above-mentioned Schurtz patent. The transferapparatus includes a transfer chamber 3| and transfer valve mechanism32. A fluid thermostat in the still operates, through liquid in the pipe34, to'efiect movement of the transfer valves at desired times. Ingeneral, it may be stated that normally the top of the transfer chamber3| is open to low pressure vapor in the top of the absorber 29, and thebottom of the chamber 3| is connected to a pipe containing liquid, inturn connected to the absorber, so that the trans fer chamber fills withrich liquor at low pressure. When the concentration of liquor in thestill has boiled down to a pretedermlned' desired minimum the fluidthermostat moves the valves to block the connections of the transferchamber to the absorber and to connect its top to a pipe containing highpressure vapor, and its bottom to the still. When these connections areefiected the liquid in the transfer chamber drains by gravity to thestill, and thereupon the valves return to their previous setting and thetransfer chamber refills from the absorber. This cycle may, for example,take place about once every seven or eight minutes. It will be thus seenthat despite theconstant boiling off of refrigerant vapor from the-still, and the absorption of such vapor in the absorber, desiredquantities and concentrations of liquor are maintained in the variousparts of the system.

It is apparent that the rate of boiling off of refrigerant vapor (andthus-indirectly the rate of transfer action) is a direct function of theamount of heat supplied to the still, which is in turn a function of theamount of fuel supplied to the burner. Since the float actuatedexpanequipment with which this application is parsion valve in thereceiver 22 will pass refrigerant fore varies the amount ofrefrigeration'in acupon opening of the food compartment door.

Heretofore control knobs have generally been located alongside theevaporator, either deeply inside the food compartment in a relativelyinaccessible place, or sometimes requiring the opening of a secondsmaller door on the front of the evaporator to gain access to thecontrol knob. Moreover, this location of the control knob in the bottomframe member enables the control mechanism to beimmediately adjacent andin convenient relationship to the apparatus in the machinerycompartment, where such is beneath the food compartment. This desirablelocation is attained, moreover, without the necessity of lon orcomplicated connection between the control knob in' the upper part ofthe food compartment and mechanism in the machinery compartment.

ticularly concerned, and which will now be described more fully.

The fuel for the burner l5,-,preferably gas, is supplied to therefrigerator'through the pipe 35. This pipe leads through flow controlmechanism 36 to the pipe 31, which then delivers the fuel to the burner.The flow control mechanism 38, in accordance with conventional practice,includes a valve element for regulating the flow and mechanism formoving the valve. Movement of the valve is effected by thermostaticmeans responsive to the temperature in the food compartment, the amountof movement or position of the valve member-for any given foodcompartment temperature being regulated by,man-

ually operable control means associated with the thermostat. Thus theamount of refrigeration, responsive primarily to the thermostaticportion of the control, may be varied by operation of the manualcontrol.

The food compartment is completely open in the front, in accordance withconventional practicejand the opening is surrounded or bordered j by arectangular frame, the bottom horizontal member of the frame being hereidentified as-38.

This frame is mounted in the cabinet and adapted to have therefrigerator door received therein to make sealing engagementvtherewith, to provide. the desired closure of the food compartment. Inthe bottom frame member 38 is mounted a knob or manual control means 39,this being rotatable. The knob 39 fis connected tothe refrigeratorcontrol mechanism by a simple and short connection, the rod 40 extendingdown through the front end of the insulating wall beneath the foodcompartment, in this case being shown as extending through a woodencross piece. Manual rotation of the knob 39 effects adjustment in thecontrol mechanism 36, and there- As will be apparent from Figure 3, thecontrol knob 33 is encircled with an annular metal indicator plate 4i.While the details are not'shown here because of thesize Of the view,this plate will normally bear on it inscriptions indicating which waythe knob should be rotated to raise the temperature in the foodcompartment, and which movement effect a reduction of temperature in thefood compartment. There may also be certain arbitrary numbers or symbolson this encircling dial member H to enable an instruction booklet to beused wherein instructions are given as to the desired setting of thecontrol knob for certain food preparation, as the freezing of ice creamor the like. The location of the control knob and encircling indicatingdial (rigidly mounted) in the bottomframe member is also desirable sinceit calls them to 'ones attention each time the refrigerator door iopened. The control knob and encircling indicator dial are preferably oflight colored metal or plastic, to

contrast with a dark colored door frame.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments Of my invention, itis to be understood that it is capable of many modifications.- -Changes,therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in theappended claims.

I claim: 1. A refrigerator of the character described, including:acabinet having a food compartment in the upper part thereof and amachinery compartment in the lower 'part; an opening in the front of thefood compartment; .a frame surrounding said opening; a door adapted tofit into the frame to close the opening; refrigerant circulatingapparatus; means for controlling the rate of circulation, said meansbeing in the machinery compartment; and regulating means extending fromthe control means through the bottom portion of the frame and providedwith means for manual operation located immediately adjacent said bottomframe portion and accessible only when the door is open.

2. A continuous absorption refrigerator of the character described,including: a. cabinet having a food compartment in the upper partthereof 2,886,816 and a machinery compartment in the lower part;

an opening in the front ofthe food compartment; a frame surrounding saidopening; a door adapted to fit into the frame to close the opening;refrigerant circulating apparatus; means for controlling the rate offlow of fuel to control the rate of circulation, said means being in themachinery compartment; and regulating means extending from the controlmeans through the bottom portion of the frame and provided with meansfor manual operation located immediately adjacentsaid bottom frameportion and ble only when e door is open.

3. A refrigerator of the character described, including: a cabinethaving a food compartment in accessithe upper part thereof and amachinery compartment in the lower part; an opening in the front of thefood compartment; a frame surrounding said opening and having anapproximately horizontal bottom portion; a door adapted to fit into theframe to close the opening; refrigerant circulating apparatus; means forcontrolling the rate of circulation, said means being in the machinerycompartment; and regulating means comprising a rigid shaft extendingfrom the control means through the bottom portion of and a machinerycompartment in the lower part;

an opening in the front of the food compartment; a frame surroundingsaid opening and having an approximately horizontal bottom portion; adoor adapted to fit into the frame to close the opening; refrigerantcirculating apparatus; means for controlling the rate of circulation,said means being in the machinery compartment; and regu-' lating meanscomprising a shaft extending from the control means through said bottomportion and carrying a control knob immediately adjacent and parallel tosaid bottom frame portion and accessible only when the door is open.

5. Apparatus of the character claimed in claim 4, wherein the knob is ofheat insulating material and a. heat insulating member encircles theshaft beneath the knob.

JOSEPH N. ROTH.

